Economic woes and penny-conscious customers are leaving
Coastside coffee shops with the jitters, taking some of the steam
out of the venti-sized business of providing gourmet beverages to
caffeinated Coastsiders.

Coffee shop owners say customers are, by and large, being much
more choosy, avoiding the higher-priced fare such as lattes, mochas
and chai drinks and instead sticking to basics. And even for the
Coastside’s selection of award-winning coffee houses, the recession
has truly hit home.

Raman Bechar, the namesake owner of Raman’s Coffee & Chai on
Main Street, says that his shop could pull in about $1,000 a day in
past years, and sometimes much more if a special event was taking
place. But since the downturn in the economy began late last year,
he noticed sales suffered about a 30 percent drop from a slower
stream of customers who were spending less.

“I could complain, but I consider myself very lucky,” Bechar
said. “I get a lot of repeat customers and most of my business is
local.”

Sitting down on a slow afternoon last week to chat with a
customer, Bechar said that the mainstay of his business, his famous
chai latte, is still popular among customers. And, almost on cue, a
cheery customer waltzed in Raman’s shop, greeted the owner and
asked for her daily chai.

“We’d all like to make more right now,” Bechar said. “People are
just pulling back — I know I am. I used to eat out a lot more.”

Max Noyes, owner of M Coffee on Main Street, says that he has
had to cut employee hours to hedge his losses.

“Business is down, significantly. I don’t even want to say how
much,” Noyes said. “People who’d come in several times a week
aren’t coming by as much now.”

Noyes says that his downtown shop still has its regular
customers, but they are sticking to basics, many purchasing plain
coffee, and altogether avoiding the selection of sandwiches and
salads.

But there is a silver lining, he said. Sales of coffee beans at
M Coffee have increased for customers planning on brewing their own
coffee to save money. Also, the cafe got some relief recently from
the warm weather, with ice cream sales giving the shop an
unexpected boost.

San Francisco State economics Professor William Mason says the
poor sales for neighborhood coffee shops is another sign of the
disenchantment consumers are feeling from the financial pinch.

“People are hearing so much bad news about the bad state of the
economy, and they’re psychologically responding by tightening their
belts,” Mason said. “Even people who aren’t in danger of losing
their wealth, they’re kind of stepping back.”

A former San Francisco cafe owner himself, Mason sympathized
with locally owned coffee shops, saying they were one of the more
unfortunate victims of the recession. Those businesses, he said,
often are neighborhood fixtures and important social spaces for the
community.

But Mason said he understands why customers were no longer
shelling out cash for the most exquisite coffee drinks.

“I’m absolutely astounded that Starbucks was doing as well as it
did,” he said. “I’m a conservative guy economically, but those
prices are stupid — $4 to $5 for a latte! It doesn’t make sense why
people would pay that.”

But while local shoppers have become frugal with their cup o’
joe, they haven’t been reluctant to splurge for another class of
beverages — booze.

“Business is up a little bit from last year,” said Steve Erlich,
owner of Ernie’s Wine and Liquor. “Money is tight and people are
drinking more now, but they’re switching to less expensive
stuff.”

Noticing that customers who were going for $40 bottles of
whiskey were now drinking $10 vodka, Erlich said that he’s been
stocking his store inventory with cheaper-priced liquor. As a
result, his business has seen a 10 percent increase from last year,
he said.

“When times are tough people want to forget their problems
more,” Erlich said. “And with Christmas and New Year’s, when people
have an opportunity to celebrate in bad times, they do it fully
stocked.”